Stanislaus j



'(No Model.)

S.- J. DOUGET. AUTOMATIC RAILWAY SIGNALING APPARATUS.

.No. 452,072. Patented May 12, 1891.

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\U k \U \KQN -v A \& H wAA w W 1 TI 1% M \N b .NAV \U .E. Q H N w n my, \NQuMZTIIAW w .L HI. 1 .m o v N w [0/ m w W UNITED STATEs STANISLAUS J. DOUOET,

PATENT OFFICE.

on SHIPPEGAN, CANADA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 452,072, dated May 12, 1891.

Application filed October 22, 1890. Serial No. 368,885. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STANISLAUS' J. DoUoET, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, and a resident of Shippegan, New Brunswick, Oanada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Railway Signaling Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

Heretofore railway signaling apparatus has been devised in which the signaling devices are included in an electric circuit formed by sections of the railway-track; and my invention refers particularly to this class of de vices, my object being to provide improved apparatus whereby the engineer or other person on a moving train will be notified if another train is on the same track, ahead orbehind, within an unsafe distance. To attain this object Idivide the track into sections of convenient length, and at difierent points along each such section (say a mile apart) I disconnect or insulate a portion of one rail fora certain length greater than the length of the longest trains used. To distinguish herein between sections I term the firstmentioned the track-section and the latter or one-rail section the insulated rail or portion. The opposite rail is electrically continuous the whole length of the track-section, and the abutting rails at each end of the insulating portions are connected by a wire, so that the-wire and not the insulated portion will convey the electric current at such portions of the track. At suitable points this wire, which may be strung on poles, is connected with contact-plates or equivalent devices, which are fixed in a suitable location to receive contact by a wire brush or its equivalent carried by a locomotive, (one on each side.) The wire brush is insulated from the locomotive and is connected with an electric alarm in the engine-cab, the alarm apparatus being in electrical connection with the wheels and axles of the train.

My invention consists in the construction and combination of parts as hereinafter described and claimed.

In thedrawings which accompany and form part of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan View showing as much as is necessary to illustrate my invention; and Fig. 2 is a similar view,'on a reduced scale, of the same arrangements of contact-plates and connectingwires, and illustrating also at each end of the figure a somewhat different arrangement that may be used in connection with the system claimed.

Referring first to Fig. 1, A indicates the electrieally-continuous rail of a track-section, and B the divided rail having the insulated portion B, which should be of such length that all the wheels on one side of the longest train that may be used may rest at one time on said portion. At a and b the points of insulation are indicated.

W indicates a wire connecting the' ends of the divided rail beyond the ends of the insulated rail, and C O C indicate the contactplates connected with wire 7 and fixed in a position where a brush D or its equivalent projecting from some part of the engine may make contact therewith. The wire may be strung on poles at one side of the track, or it might be an insulated wire laid between the rails, with the contact-plates projecting upward to be touched by a brush extending downward from the engine.

The wheels of the locomotive are indicated at E, while E represents the last wheels of the train.

F indicates an ordinary electric alarm, prefferably placed in the cab of an engine and connected by wire fwith the axle of the engine and by wire f with a battery G and brush D, the latter being insulated from the engine. I

Supposing that a train is either standing in the position indicated by the wheels in Fig. l or has reached that position while passing in the direction of the arrow or, if there is no train elsewhere on the same track-section, no alarm will be rung, for the reason that there is no connection from one rail of the track to the other except through the wheels and axles of train indicated in the figure, and the rail portion B, on which all the wheels on one side of the train are resting, is completely insulated; but if there is another train elsewhere on the section the circuit will be complete when the brush rests on contact-plate O. This fact is demonstrated by the following: Suppose the train in moving reaches the point where the brush passes over plate C. An alarm would then be rung one end of the insulated section and two at the other is twofold. It is to be understood that this arrangement is the same through- [5 out the length of the road. Now for all trains passing in the direction ofarrow r the single ring, if not followed by the double alarm, shows that the system is in working order, and also that no other train is on that track-section; but when trains are moved in the opposite direction the engineer knows that a double ring is one of safety unless followed by a single one, which is then the danger-signal. This arrangement of single and double contact-plates prevents mistaking the signal given at one end of the wire for that given at the nearest end of the wire in the next sub-section reached by the train. Of course the arrangement could be varied somewhat or duplicated in any subsection or insulated portion, so as to cause a repetition of the danger-signal, it being, however, desirable that there shall be a difference between the number at one end of wire \V and those at the other end, for the purposes above described.

At an increased expense, chiefly in the amount of wire used, an improved apparatus or construction possessing some advantages over the foregoing and in addition thereto may be employed, and in Fig. 2 I illustrate the same. As indicated in said figure, I divide the rail B into sections of convenient length, as indicated at a, b, and at these points I extend wires \V' IV forward and back, crossing each other, as shown. At the end of wire V I connect a contact-plate c, and near the crossing-point I connect another contact-plate c. The wire W is simi- 5o larly provided with two contactplates at its end and a near the crossing-point. Between points a and b I show two sub-sections, the same as'that shown in Fig. l, and in Fig. 2 the distance from (t to b may be supposed to be three miles, while the intermediate subsections are one mile apart from each other and from points a and Z). 3y this arrangement the maximum and minimum interval of space within which danger-signals will be given and received by moving trainsis determined beforehand and maybe of any desired extent and with but verylittle more wire than for the arrangement previously described. All the wires W V should be at least half a 6 mile long, so that two trains moving at points and in the direction of arrows cc would receive timely warning of danger.

11y having two sub-sections between points a b in every section indicated by said points collisions are impossible, for if one train is on the section a b and another enters it one or the other will receive a danger-signal in time, and the half mile wires \V' and Vi" prevent the danger of collision at either point a or 6', while by having these insulated points a b and the crossing wires W and \V no danger-signal will be given when another train is at a safe distance away on another main section.

The distance between plates 0 and c and between plates (2 and 0" being about half a mile, it will therefore be understood that trains cannot be within half a mile of each other without a signal being given. For instance, if a train be anywhere on the track with which wire IV is in connection, then if another train causes contact at c a dangersignal will be given, and, owing to the difference in the number of contact-plates of wires IV and the engineer of the train whosebrush makes contact will know if asignal is received, whether the train causing it is in front or behind him.

Having now described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a railway-signal apparatus, the combination, with one electri ally-continuous rail and the other having a section insulated, of a series of contact-plates connected together and its opposite ends connected to the rail at each end of the insulated section, whereby an electric alarm carried by a train and. having a contact-brush adapted to make contact with the said plates may have its circuit completed, substantially as described.

2. In a railway-signal apparatus, the combination, with one electrically continuous rail and the other having an insulated section, of a wire connecting the ends of the rail beyond the insulated section and a series of contact-plates differing in number connected to the wire near each end thereof, substantially as described.

3. In a railway-signal apparatus, the combination, with one electrically continuous rail and the other rail having sections insulated, of a series of contact-plates located in proximity to the track and electrically connected together and to differentinsulated railsections, said contact-plates differing in numberin different locations and all located in the same line parallel with the rails, whereby a contact-brush carried by a train having suitable alarm apparatus and connections will cause a signal to indicate the direction of danger.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

STANISLAUS J. DO'UCET.

\Vitnesses:

THOMAS AHIEn, U. C. TRUDEL.

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